The centerpiece of this very interesting and well-planned recital consists of a dynamite performance of Alkan’s blisteringly difficult Sonate de concert for cello and piano. The team of Bertrand and Amoyel captures Alkan’s unique mixture of transcendent Romantic virtuosity and firm structural discipline better than any other version currently available. They bring real symphonic weight to the opening movement, exude charm in the delicious succeeding Allegrettino, probe the intensely austere Adagio to its utmost depths, and then simply go crazy in the insane “alla saltarella” finale.
The short Liszt pieces that precede and follow the sonata make perfect disc mates. La lugubre gondole sounds especially effective in this transcription (all of these works exist in alternative versions, generally as piano solos or songs), as do the two elegies. Romance oubliée and Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth may not be among Liszt’s greater inspirations, but like everything else in this exceptional program, they work well in their context.
In the Alkan, the very close recorded sound offers the best piano/cello balances that you will find, but the price is high: Bertrand’s very obtrusive breathing and gasping comes close to ruining some of her most intimate moments. She needs to learn to control this, but the engineers should know better too. There’s too much brilliant musicianship going on here to detract from the artistic value of these performances, but the sonic shortcomings remain frustrating. [1/28/2002]
